Patients prescribed SGLT2 inhibitors less likely to exhibit nodule growth and to undergo a surgical intervention<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter<\/b>
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MONDAY, Oct. 20, 2025 (HealthDay News) — For patients with diabetes and early-stage pulmonary malignancies, administration of a sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitor (SGLT2-i) slows nodule growth and reduces the need for surgical interventions, according to a study presented at CHEST 2025, the annual meeting of the American College of Chest Physicians, held from Oct. 19 to 22 in Chicago.<\/p>\n
Katherine Welch, M.D., from the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and colleagues conducted a retrospective analysis to examine whether administration of an SGLT2-i would slow growth and reduce surgical interventions in early-stage pulmonary malignancies. Patients with diabetes with a lung nodule confirmed between 2014 and 2024 were identified; those who were prescribed an SGLT2-i were compared to those using an alternative class of antidiabetic medication (109 and 109 patients).<\/p>\n
The researchers found that compared with those who were prescribed alternative antidiabetic medications, patients who were prescribed an SGLT2-i were significantly less likely to exhibit lung nodule growth (13.8 versus 25.7 percent). Compared with those taking alternative antidiabetic medications, patients prescribed an SGLT2-i were significantly less likely to undergo a surgical intervention (5.5 versus 11.9 percent; hazard ratio, 0.15). To prevent one additional surgical intervention over a 10-year period, the number needed to treat with an SGLT2-i was 15.6 patients.<\/p>\n
“SGLT2 inhibitors may hold therapeutic potential for patients with early-stage pulmonary adenocarcinoma by slowing nodule growth and reducing the need for surgical interventions such as biopsies and resections,” Welch said in a statement. “This may have far-reaching implications to other early-stage adenocarcinomas.”<\/p>\n